History of the Company
Formation Pre-formation Outriders The Outrider Company can be traced back to Nagrand as one of many informal raiding bands. The original members - Saurkol Wolfarrow , Gurred Heavy-Hand, Hacker Bladegore, Suu'la Longsight and at least two other unrecorded Orcs - were inhabitants of the same village. During the rise of the Horde and the First War, these Orcs were separated into different Legions and their informal raiding band was discontinued. Later, after the reunion of the clans in the Third War, the first three named were united in Ashenvale. Conception of the Company Initially styling themselves as "Outriders," the three Orcs took small victories against individual night elf scouting parties, eventually earning favor enough to be told to found a Company with the specific goal of anti-scout operations. The Outrider Company's role diversified to anything achievable through hit-and-run tactics, as their numbers rose to almost ten raiders - including the Commander Saurkol's un-titled son, Narkol. Post-Third War Outriders Kalimdor Defence In the aftermath of the third war, the Outriders were moved to Orgrimmar and tasked with the protection of its interests in central Kalimdor. This would eventually take them to Silithus during the opening of the Scarab Gate. Their operations against Alliance camps, meant to weaken them for capture after the war was won, incited swift counter-attacks, one of which left Gurred Heavy-Hand with a debilitating head injury. Wolf Iron It was during the Silithus campaign that Gurred began developing a custom-forged alloy, making use of Azeroth's exotic materials to outfit the Outriders in gear that suited their tactics. Wolf-Iron, as it came to be known, was expensive to manufacture, and its recipe was recorded in a code that Gurred would translate for whoever required it. This made it impossible for enemies to steal it. However, when Heavy-Hand was struck in the head by a dwarf's thunderbolt, he suffered permanent deblitation and lost the ability to translate the code. Thereafter, he was the sole Orc capable of recalling the recipe. The Burning Crusade As a primarily Orcish Company, the Outriders expected to be involved in the campaign for Outland. However, they lacked the tactical significance to be worth the cost of transporting them there, as well as the cost of replacing their role in Kalimdor. They were instead required to hunt demon-supporters in Durotar and the Barrens. Their experience with guerrilla combat allowed them an advantage over the cultists, who were largely disorganised and new to that brand of covert warfare. Moonglaive Outrunners Whilst they hunted cultists, the Outriders still pursued Alliance operations where they might pose a threat to the Horde. They encountered a similarly-focused band of night elves whenever they encroached upon Darnassian territory. Trading many defeats, the rivalry between the two eventually led to direct campaigns against one another. These deliberate conflicts tended to take place on the border of the Barrens and Ashenvale. The Scourge Necropolis Invasions Interfactional conflict was put aside after Illidan Stormrage's defeat in Outland, as soon afterwards, Horde territory came under attack from necropolises. Whilst Orgrimmar faced an outbreak of the plague of undeath, the Outriders took part in hunts to intercept the Necropolises. Multiple successful ambushes of Scourge forces earned the Company a place in the spear-tip of such counter-offensives. This would prove to be their downfall, as a mission in the Barrens took the Outriders into a prepared trap; plague spores preceded the ground force of ghouls, infecting and killing several members of the Company before the rest could retreat. Narkol's Inheritance of Command The only original Outrider remaining at this time was Gurred , whose injury made him ineligible for command. Narkol, taking up his father's title, received the support of a majority of the other survivors, and he became the second Outrider Commander. The Failure in Dragonblight The first deployment under Narkol Wolfarrow was to Northrend ; an advance ground-laying mission to take reconnaissance of the Scourge strength there. Narkol was entirely unprepared for such an undertaking, committing multiple errors which caused them to face resounding defeat at the hands of the Moonglaives' counter-scouting raids, and then to starvation and predation by ghouls. Disbandment In face of overwhelming evidence that the Outriders were no longer effective, the Company was disbanded, and its members sent on a low-risk, low-value patrol duty in Hellfire Peninsula. There Narkol and Roat would remain, eventually deployed in separate places, for the duration of the Lich King offensive. The Shattering It took the re-emergence of Deathwing to necessitate that all available forces be withdrawn to Azeroth. Narkol made repeated petitions to re-found the Company, citing acceptable, if not exemplary performance against the demons of Hellfire. His petition was approved, and the Outriders were granted the use of a fortress in the Valley of Honor. From this fortress, dubbed Outrider Hall, Narkol began recruiting anyone and everyone he could. The Outriders began with simple missions in Durotar, tracking down individual demons until their numbers were high enough to make significant contributions. During Narkol's first return to Orgrimmar he encountered the Bloodblade Legion in Arathi, befriending their Warlord, Dragrom Bloodblade. This allegiance enabled him to attach his Company to the Bloodblade's operations, and the two groups aided one another in hunting cultists of all kinds. Outriders followed the Bloodblades to Northrend, this time with fewer casualties, and helped to secure the Grizzly Hills. At this time the leader of a trollish tribe, Ten'jan, enmified himself to the Bloodblades and Outriders. The Outriders attempted to run a mission to slay the Troll, but were defeated, halving their numbers, including the notable loss of Gralnurg Thunderaxe. Pandaria Dissentment of the Warchief The Horde as a people grew steadily more discontent with Warchief Garrosh Hellscream. Among dissenters Narkol Wolfarrow was vocal, causing the Outriders to come under investigation for treachery. Although technically loyal to the Horde, the Outriders had deposed warleaders before, and Horde officials were unhappy with the risk that guerrilla-capable soldiers might be inclined to rebel. Suicide Mission in Pandaria Main article. It is unknown what, if any, influence the Warchief himself had in the decision to send the Outriders to die on Pandaria. The mission's intention had been to take supplies overland to Domination Point, circumventing the even deadlier Alliance naval force there. After wrecking on the coast of the Jade Forest, Commander Wolfarrow ordered a two-week march to the location, taking great care about his campsites after lessons learned in Northrend. From interference by Orc attackers, the Outriders concluded they were being hunted by the Horde. They fled fled north across the entire continent, the entire time being hunted by Bloodblade Legionnaires, before finally deeming it possible to teleport out without being tracked. This failed; they were redirected to Orgrimmar and forced to flee via the Outrider Hall's vault tunnels. The Darkspear Revolution Narkol Wolfarrow was captured alongside his own son, Fangol, making Champion Daggerfang acting Commander. Daggerfang led reprisal efforts in Ashenvale and Stonetalon until his disappearance shortly before Narkol's return. The Outriders formally joined Vol'jin's revolution immediately after Narkol took back his place in Command, and engaged in long conflicts with their rivals the Bloodblade Legion. A long and bloody campaign ensued, barely won by a revolution force that swelled with defectors as time went on. The Outriders' final action in the revolution was to decapitate Horde forces during the massive battle for Bilgewater Harbor and capture the Bloodblade Legion's officers. Twilight Highlands The Outriders were tasked with retrieving as many Garrosh-loyalists as possible back into Vol'jin's Horde. They did so with a redemption campaign against small-scale cults in the Highlands, although the cult was more organised and more powerful than they expected; both the original Warlord Dragrom Bloodblade and the Commander Narkol Wolfarrow died during the operation . Commander Cave Bloodrider Leadership of the Company, with its ranks in tatters, was taken up by Cave Bloodrider . She took Fangol , still un-titled, as an advisor, and replenished the Outriders' ranks until they were able to continue campaigning in Pandaria against extant Kor'kron loyalists. Cave was then rendered comatose. The Iron Horde and Alternate Draenor Acting Commander Fangol Shadowbane Outrider resistance against the Iron Tide offensive was led by Fangol Shadowbane while Commander Bloodrider was recovering from a soul malady. Though they failed to prevent the Iron Horde from making gains all the way up to Blackrock mountain, they succeeded in breaching the defences long enough for other soldiers to enter the mountain and the fortified Spire within. Commander Bloodrider's Draenor Campaign Cave returned to the front and established a garrison in Frostfire Peninsula for the Outriders, concurrent to the Vanguard's in the same region. The garrison would later be named Shadowbane after the advisor was slain in a cult raid. During this time they came into conflict with the Axemaw Marauders, a warband considered to fulfil a similar role to the Outriders for the Iron Horde - the comparison strengthened by the presence of the alternate Draenor's Saurkol Bladeheart and a young alternate Dragrom Bloodblade. Acting Commander Gral'nok Thunderaxe Falling out of action in the Company's first foray onto Tanaan Jungle, Cave left her new Champion, a resurrected Gralnurg Thunderaxe , in charge of the Company. During this time the Outriders were ordered to Broken Horn, where they encountered Bladeheart, who swore his allegiance to the Company. The Outriders defended against a Legion of Blackrock Orcs , ultimately retreating with what wounded they could move. During Gral's leadership, Bladeheart was promoted to second-in-command and ran multiple missions in Tanaan alongside the Delmoore Organisation. The Acting Commander was promoted to Warlord in an admitted effort by the High Warlord to hasten trial procedures for war crimes committed throughout Thunderaxe's life. The High Warlord was later killed by a sub-division of Rezal Voidborn 's cult, however Warlord Gral retained his rank, founding the Steelcrusher Legion and naming it after an extremely successful mission in Tanaan, Operation Steelbane. Steelcrusher Legion First Company The Outriders remained together through the transition, fulfilling the Steelcrusher Legion's scouting/elite strike role under Saurkol Bladeheart. Though the rest of the Legion was confronted with high fatality and low recruitment, the Outriders were relatively safe and stable due to differing recruitment methods. They took on the burden of trialling entire Companies of new recruits at a time, and the rush to higher numbers meant that Warlord Gral was unable to prepare a trained and equipped army by the time the Burning Legion attacked. The Burning Legion Returns Broken Shore The entire Steelcrusher Legion was deployed to a section of the Broken Shore during the Azerothian retaliation. It faced extreme casualties, as the Warlord was faced by an unsustainably large force of demons. Efforts by the first Company to stem the tide proved redundant when the Eredar Lord Vizuul the Twisted personally interfered. When the Warlord signalled defeat, his legion had been soundly defeated. The Outrider Company made up the bulk of the survivors, although they too took heavy casualties, and Warlord Gral'nok surrendered his rank in grief of his lost men. Commander Saurkol Bladeheart Absorbing the miserably few survivors of the other Companies, Saurkol re-instated the Outrider Company as it was originally intended; keeping Cave Bloodrider and Karthur Ironrage as Blood Guards. The three officers led a plethora of missions on the Broken Isles, winning trust of the Highmountain tribes, two of the Order Halls, the Nightfallen, and clashing with such demonic armies as the Dreadblade cult. Other campaigns included a long-term, and at time of writing ongoing, operation to trap and kill Vizuul, and a gruelling nine-day stealth mission in the Legion-overrun Twilight Highlands. Present The Outriders are currently stationed again in Orgrimmar, with leave to deploy anywhere on Azeroth that needs their action to protect. They are pursuing a cultist known as Ash Heart, as well as continually aiding the Delmoore Organisation. There are approximately fifteen sworn Outriders, with a third as many un-sworn but long-term allies. It is not known how many additional Outriders are M.I.A., although this number likely does not exceed one or two. Scientists in the 1930s discovered that legs are not machines piloted by snotlings.